sepia cemetary

[Frog]

Went up to a local cemetary in which I keep trying to get a good shot. Since it had snowed a little the night before I thought that might make for some interesting shots with the old headstones.
I ended up over exposing just about every shot though..I guess it was the dark headstones against the white snow. In trying to salvage something, I thought I might try making some of them into sepia tones. Never tried it before. That darkened the main marker in this shot so much, so after editing in raw to get the sepia tone I highlighted the headstone and played with hue/saturation/shadows, midtones/ highlights, etc. lol.
Let me know what you think and if I should do anything different. I do wish the lettering would stand out more but its pretty worn anyway.
Thankyou.

[F-15_Flyer]

It does seem a bit bright but I don't think it bothers me. The added tone really stands out in the grass, it's very nice, almost looks 3D. Interesting composition, love how the gravestone is level with the skyline, and I love how the sky is completely black, adding a harsh shape. The negative shapes and odd flattened out space turn it into a 2 dimensional design. hmm, 2d and 3d in same picture. haha

i hate to say it, but this is one of the best gravestone shots i've ever seen.

[Frog]

Thankyou F-15.
All I can say is thank god for photoshop as it sure brought out a lot the original didn't have.
By the way, that black sky is actually forest and not an attractive one at that. If you look close you can see the tree tops and sky in the middle.
The lettering on the stone shows better in large image.

[Greg McCary]

I think I would off center it some, but I agree that the processing is very good. Almost looks like an IR shot. Nice shot Frog..

[MB1]

I think a crop from the right almost to the headstone would work well here.

Normally I prefer straight B&W to sepia but I think your decision to use sepia here works well.

Not bad at all.

[Frog]

Thankyou, Greg and MB1!
It is such an interesting place with gravestones from late 1800s and early 1900s plus a few newer ones, but I always have trouble finding the right compositions there.

[gahspidy]

I also like the warm sepia tone on this. I would have liked a lower vantage point to this shot so that the top of the headstone would be more in the black of the bg and not level with the horizon line. i agree with the crop suggestion on the right. It brings the stone out from near center and up closer as well.
Nice work

[Didache]

When I first looked at this I thought it was IR too (or a photoshopped equivalent)! It certainly gives it a "feel". With the crop that others have already suggested, it makes a very nice and slightly unusual image. Re the lettering, I have found that light from the side will tend to bring out detail on things like headstones - can you get back there when the sun is shining across it from the side? (this also works for things like tree bark)

Cheers
Mike

[GB1]

Frog - It's an interesting picture. I don't mind that it's overexposed, but it does wash out the sepia effect a bit. Also, the headstone is just too unreadable... Not sure there was much you could do about this except shoot it when the sun was striking it head on, and that depends if the face was facing east, west, or south (if it faces north, you're out of luck). Or you could artificially illum it.

Anyway - I do like the sepia. Try it with some old town type shots too, those always seem to work with that effect.

GB

[Frog]

Thanks for the suggests.
As for the lettering, its pretty difficult to read even when you're there on many of the markers.
I do try to get it so a few letters can be seen as I think it peaks the curiousity of the viewer....it peaks mine when I'm there, for sure. Its 10 minutes up the road so there will probably be more.

[F-15_Flyer]

You haven't cropped it yet have you? Cause I like it how it is right now.